Tsukiko
Tsukiko was a human Mystic Theurge who was imprisoned in the Azure City jail for "unnatural acts of wizardry".Comic #420, "The Trial of Belkar Bitterleaf (Abridged)" She was released by Hinjo in order to assist in The Battle of Azure City, but switched sides during the battle. She was the leader of a group of wights known as "The Black Squadron". Biography Background Tsukiko was trained as a Mystic Theurge, and had a job as a intern grave robber for 2 years. She was later imprisoned for "unnatural acts of wizardry". War and XPs Tsukiko was an unnamed prisoner in Azure City for "Unnatural Acts of Wizardry". She was subsequently released by Hinjo, along with Belkar and another unnamed prisoner, in order to support the Azurites in the upcoming battle in exchange for a reduced sentence. Tsukiko later betrayed HinjoComic #446, "Hell of a Job" and asked Xykon if she could join his side. In addition to revealing her name, she revealed she was a mystic theurge, as well as a grave robber with a large necrophiliac tendency. After healing Xykon with negative energy spells, he "hired" her for his team and sent her to Redcloak to fill paperwork, but not before ordering her to join the battle. When Tsukiko reached Redcloak, he was reluctant to accept her to their teamComic #457, "Anti-Human Resources". When she tried to follow him into the citadel, he blocked her path using a Blade Barrier spell, thus trapping her between the barrier and a Chlorine Elemental he had summoned earlier. She resorted to destroying the elemental with a Shout spell, which also destroyed part of the prison, thus killing a prisoner and allowing the Linear Guild to escape. Tsukiko met up with Redcloak and Xykon and she immediately blamed Redcloak for attempting to kill her, much to Xykon's amusement.Comic #465, "No One Likes a Tattletale" Xykon dismissed her, Redcloak suggested that she go animate some corpses. She considered animating the recently deceased Miko, but dismissed the idea when she realized she needed a whole corpse. She consoled herself by concluding that Miko would not have made a particularly powerful undead. Finally, she commented about Xykon's headband.Comic #484, "At the End of the Day" Don't Split the Party .]] In the months following The Battle of Azure City, Tsukiko became the leader of her own group of wights, which she named "The Black Squadron".Comic #513, "Security Deposit" It is revealed in subsequent comics that she was familiar with Haley's resistance movement, had encountered her before, and despised her. While Belkar and Thanh were battling the wights, Tsukiko intervened and successfully cast Dominate Person on Thanh. She then used her control over him to lure Haley from her hideout. Tsukiko revealed she has been studying new, non-core spells which would be harder for Haley to avoid, and successfully hit her (and threw her out of the panel) using an Electric Orb spell. Haley was forced to run away. Upon returning to Isamu, she found he had turned into a wight. Belkar came to her aid, but started chatting with Tsukiko, who offered to set up an interview for him with Xykon. Belkar refused (not out of loyalty but rather impulsiveness) and threw Mr. Scruffy at her, which incapacitated her. This gives Belkar and Haley enough time to escape through a secret door, thus losing Tsukiko. Tsukiko is later seen in a few comics, mainly helping entertain Xykon, herself and others. She happily aided Xykon at Redcloak's behest when Xykon did battle with the Soul Spliced Vaarsuvius. With the battle 'apparently' won she retires for evening. When the battle later turns into a fiasco Xykon did nothing to berate her for leaving early, more focused on Redcloak's hand in the loss of his phylactery, the holy symbol meant to house Xykon's soul if he died. Tsukiko happily pointed out the loss of Redcloak's eye. Blood Runs in the Family While Tsukiko was kept in the dark about Team Evil's true goals, Xykon by default included her in his order for his entourage to be ready to teleport to their next target within two rounds of finding the holy symbol. Tsukiko eventually became suspicious of Redcloak when she noticed the spells that were being used for the Snarl ritual would not produce the desired effect, and threatened to reveal this information to Xykon (and make him fall for her). She was subsequently killed and eaten by her own wights when Redcloak took control of them, which were later disposed of by Redcloak. An illusion of Tsukiko appeared in Roy, Haley and Elan's dream phantasm in the Draketooth Pyramid. Personality and Traits Tsukiko was a young human woman, perhaps even a teenager, although her exact age was unknown. Her most unique feature was her eyes—one light blue and one dark blue, which represented her ability to cast both arcane and divine spells, the core ability of the mystic theurge class. Strangely enough, the colors seem to be inconsistent—the eyes sometimes swap colors. She had black hair which she always wore in a pair of pigtails, and she wore a gothic, torn black dress and black boots. When sleeping, Tsukiko wore a babydoll, and slippers that match the colors of her eyes.Comic #653, "Fun While It Lasted" She also carried what appeared to be a Xykon plushie She treated her undead like children or babies and always tried to protect them and keep them safe, by doing things like giving them safety whistles. While new to the group, she was the only member 100% loyal to Xykon with no apparent ulterior motive. She disliked Redcloak and the feeling was mutual. She also tried flirting with Xykon: "I mean, I really LOVE the undead"*wink* Tsukiko romanticized the undead in a bizarre form of necrophilia. She regarded her undead creations as her babies, and felt sexual attraction to Xykon. Xykon did not return the feeling, respecting an inverted taboo against "biopheliacs". Powers and Abilities Arcane and Divine Spells: With levels in the Mystic Theurge prestige class, Tsukiko can cast both types of magic in D&D, and has more spell slots than a single-classed spellcaster. This makes her very versatile, for example adapting to Haley's Evasion ability by switching to spells which require an attack roll instead of a saving throw. She also has demonstrated access to spells outside the core rules.Comic #518, "At Least It Wasn't the Fourth Wall Again" Necromancer: She has a particular fascination with the undead, and has developed special skills in this area. As a necromancy specialist she has additional spell slots for necromancy, and she has researched at least one unique spell for creating undead: Tsukiko's Amazing Wight-Making Spelllink|11664910}} Forum post by Rich Burlew which creates wights and has no verbal component. Weapons and Equipment *'Xykon Memorabilia': Tsukiko has both a portrait of Xykon on her wall as well as a Xykon plushie she sleeps with. *'Item that Boosts Caster Level': She was able to teleport six wights in addition to herself, a feat which is beyond the caster level she has otherwise demonstrated, suggesting she must have some item to allow her to do this. *'Unholy Symbol': For casting divine spells *Spellbook, quill, various books and scrolls Trivia * Tsukiko (月子) is a Japanese name meaning "moon child". * Tsukiko's last words were: "Why don't... you love... me?" * "Tsukiko's Amazing Wight-Making Spell" was a tongue-in-cheek explanation by Rich Burlew after one forum user asked how Tsukiko had created wights, despite the core undead-creating necromancy spells, such as Create Undead, Create Greater Undead, or Animate Dead, providing no option to do so. In core, level-draining spells such as Enervation would have also accomplished the task, however. References Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Dead Characters Category:Neutral Evil Characters Category:Neutral Characters Category:Evil Characters Category:Females Category:Wizards Category:Clerics Category:Team Evil Category:Inhabitants of Gobbotopia Category:Inhabitants of Azure City Category:Mystic Theurges